First of all I feel bad for the boy, I do, but the story is shamelessly slanted towards getting an emotional response. Talking about how the neighborhood was like pleasantville before pit bulls. His 'pageboy haircut', harkening back to childhood images of paperboys on bikes and lemonade stands. 'Coffee chats'. 'Girl Scouts'. Shovelling each others driveways. 'Suburban dreams'. UGH!

The story really seems to pound in the point of breed unpredictability. So no matter how great your dogs are, they cannot be used as a positve example, ever. Even though they say that the dog involved had been growling and snapping at people and was kicked out of obedience class. They dismiss all that and rebuild their unpredictabity argument:

But aside from Petey's occasional belligerence, Sword had never seen any problems.

Why muddy the water and make this an argument about responsible pet ownership when you can just slam pit bulls for how viscious the attack was?

Aren't they working on BSL in Chicago? I smell an agenda. Reminds me of the old proverb 'One hand washes the other.'

Just think...a locked door could have avoided that whole incident. I feel terrible for the boy and his family. However the story was so overdone...and obviously anti-pitbull...that is lessened my sympathy for the victim...is that wrong? The story is geared to influence the blank minded people who really have no opinion one way or the other until the media tells them what to think. Anyone who has any reasoning skills will agree that a dog attack is tragic when it happens...but how can an entire breed be banned based on the actions of a few dogs and an owner who forgot to lock his door (oh Im sorry..the neighborhood was such a utopia that no one locks the door). If all of a sudden the media decided to focus on attacks of another breed of dog...those same anti pitbullers would mindlessly follow right along. What about that french woman who got her face bit off by her pet Lab...I had to read three pages into the story to find out what kind of dog it was. Does anyone doubt that if it was a pitbull that would have been the headline? I just can't stand it anymore.

ilovemybacon wrote:What about that french woman who got her face bit off by her pet Lab...I had to read three pages into the story to find out what kind of dog it was. Does anyone doubt that if it was a pitbull that would have been the headline? I just can't stand it anymore.

No, but it would have to be eight pages then.

I agree with you about feeling less sympathy. I got sick of feeling like a puppet on a string with the big emotional set up, and it made me feel the same way.

The more I think about this story and that it is clearly an attack on pit bulls, completely disregarding logic and culpability, the more mad I get. I think it is pretty mercenary to use the story of this boys tragic injuries to further their agenda. It makes me so mad!

NO a locked door could not have stopped it! My dog changed the exact same way, one day a great dog the next a total nut trying to kill me byt let me guess, the doggies just needed some training right? please.

How was the story overdone? Its what happend the facts they posted were just that , facts. Im sure as pitbull owners no one likes it but if we are going to deal with what is happening we need to stop with the damn sugar coating.

Sure you dont see stories like the one with the lady and the lab as much on the news. Know why? Because you dont have low life jackass's inbreeding the same violent labs over and over for money like you do with pitbulls these days and because of that, there are noplace near the attacks by labs then pits.

Its time to get real. Do pits attack? Yes esp in big cities it seems like a daily thing. Is it because they are just plain evil man killing dogs? NO its because of all the stupid people breeding them for $$$$ creating monster mutts that bite ,maul and kill people. No one is going to listen to us pitbull owners untill we are honest with ourselves.

well first of all, the person that started this thread said, here is a good story. No, that was a horrible story.

I'm glad the boy is okay and it is a shame that he had to suffer through that.

It is not for anyone to say a locked door wouldn't have stopped it. You will never know, because it didn't happen that way, so why even bring it up. I'm sure a locked door would have helped and gave the kids time to get away. But you will always have people that don't lock there doors or keep there pets secure. Dumb people should not have pets.

Obviously, this is a case of an irresponsible owner. If my dog was growling and snapping, common sense would tell me there was something wrong with it. The man did nothing when the trainer kicked the dog out of class. He should have figured it out right there.

And yes, the story was making it out like the little town was so pleasant and nothing could go wrong until the pit bulls came.....thats such horse sh@!.

exactly. The dog should have been put down or at the very least not had puppies at all.

People say "apbt's should never show human agression, its not in their breed" then when their dog bites them they want to sugar coat it and say "well he/she needs training , or It was my fault " Thats bullshit, A violent dog should be put down period.

You cant have it both ways. You cant tell people how these dogs are misunderstood. They are not misunderstood.You cant say its all the media , This happend, what you read happend, it wasnt a lab or a rott it was a pitbull. Making excuses only helps pitbull haters ignore you more. Deal with the issue. Yes Its happening, why is it happening? Is it the breed plain and simple? No Is It because these dogs are extreamly popular now and being bred by everyone with very bad results in terms of the litters? Yes.

sadowner wrote:exactly. The dog should have been put down or at the very least not had puppies at all.

People say "apbt's should never show human agression, its not in their breed" then when their dog bites them they want to sugar coat it and say "well he/she needs training , or It was my fault " Thats bull, A violent dog should be put down period.

You cant have it both ways. You cant tell people how these dogs are misunderstood. They are not misunderstood.You cant say its all the media , This happend, what you read happend, it wasnt a lab or a rott it was a pitbull. Making excuses only helps pitbull haters ignore you more. Deal with the issue. Yes Its happening, why is it happening? Is it the breed plain and simple? No Is It because these dogs are extreamly popular now and being bred by everyone with very bad results in terms of the litters? Yes.

yes, I agree a violent dog should be put down. But no one knows why the dog is violent or why the dogs attack. I would have to say this breed is one of the most abused breeds of them all. So yes, I still feel it is an owners fault whether they are breeding them to fight or just neglecting them. If you are responsible, nothing like this should happen.
Yes, I think alot of people misunderstand these animals because they believe everything in the media and on the internet.
for example: http://banpitbulls.blogspot.com/people will read what this idiot writes and believe him.
Although he lies and only posts half of what the article is about.
I have written to many news stations about articles they have posted.
They assume it was a pit bull that attacked, but have no expert opinion. How do they know for sure? You never really hear too much about other dog attacks, or they don't specify the breed unless its a pit.
like the article about 635 dog bites in a year. They specify that 83 of them were pit bites, and 33 were rotties. And thats it!! well what breed were all the other bites from? thats bull!!

sadowner wrote:How was the story overdone? Its what happend the facts they posted were just that , facts. Im sure as pitbull owners no one likes it but if we are going to deal with what is happening we need to stop with the damn sugar coating.

Sure you dont see stories like the one with the lady and the lab as much on the news. Know why? Because you dont have low life jackass's inbreeding the same violent labs over and over for money like you do with pitbulls these days and because of that, there are noplace near the attacks by labs then pits.

Its time to get real. Do pits attack? Yes esp in big cities it seems like a daily thing. Is it because they are just plain evil man killing dogs? NO its because of all the stupid people breeding them for $$$$ creating monster mutts that bite ,maul and kill people. No one is going to listen to us pitbull owners untill we are honest with ourselves.

Are you for real?!?!

That article was the most slanted cr&p I have ever read. I felt like a puppet on a string! It is the editorial equivilant to dirty pool.

How was it slanted? I will quote my previous post as I felt I had already explained it clearly.

Talking about how the neighborhood was like pleasantville before pit bulls. His 'pageboy haircut', harkening back to childhood images of paperboys on bikes and lemonade stands. 'Coffee chats'. 'Girl Scouts'. Shovelling each others driveways. 'Suburban dreams'. UGH!

The story really seems to pound in the point of breed unpredictability. So no matter how great your dogs are, they cannot be used as a positve example, ever. Even though they say that the dog involved had been growling and snapping at people and was kicked out of obedience class. They dismiss all that and rebuild their unpredictabity argument:Quote:But aside from Petey's occasional belligerence, Sword had never seen any problems.Why muddy the water and make this an argument about responsible pet ownership when you can just slam pit bulls for how viscious the attack was?

They ESTABLISHED in their own article that this dog had an unstable aggresive nature. The onus is then on the owner.

I never sugar coat what I know about the breed. I am fairly new but I have immersed myself in information about the breed. I have spoken publically against BSL. I always caution people about pit bull dog aggression. Yes they are strong. Yes they can do damage. So can a lab, or a golden retriever, etc, etc, etc. My dog is always monitored and if people ask why I am being cautious with him, I tell them...specifically and I educate them between inherent aggression and undesired human aggression. I have a prince of a dog, but he does not get the benefit of the doubt, ever.

Pit bulls ARE misunderstood for that reason. Lay people do not differentiate between dog aggression and human aggresion. They need to be taught the difference in most cases. It is our responsibility to educate people, as our dogs cannot do it for themselves.

I, for one, will not sit idly by when people write articles such as these and imply that it is the breed and not the environment of the specific dog that results in these cases. Also the 'pit bull unpredictability' argument undermines all of our efforts and is completely off base and should not be tolerated ever! Dogs give signs, you just have to be alert enough to see them.

Another thing, I work in the inner city and have come face to face with stray pit bulls raised and abused by thugs. Even with the abuse I have found these dogs to STILL be amassadors of the breed, with gentle temperaments just as my spoiled dog has. As a matter of fact, it was one of these dogs that got me interested in the breed in the first place. I found a pit bull dumped and left to die in a dumpster on a 100 degree day. I knew the dog had been abused and had been left in a back yard on a two foot chain for months prior. He was the sweetest animal despite his treatment. I was sold on the breed from that point on.

The problem we deal with as far as policy makers and the media is the 'image' these dogs are designated to portray by thugs. As far as that goes, I will give you one. The negative image thugs propagate is hurting all pit bull lovers because the public is beleiving the image and not learning about the fact.

No the public is seeing them on the news mauling people mostly children then seeing people make stupid comments like " well what did the kid do" or " i feel less sorry for the victim because i didnt like the story" Or the most retarded excuse of all " well the door should have been locked"

Pit owners are too quick to jump on the story and pick it apart . They need to start to deal with the issue of pits biting more then any other dog. Its not the media its fact. People need to be warned about how they get a pit as a pet. Its true it isnt the breed but people breeding it into these dogs.

And for the story. It doesnt matter about the girl scouts or the coffee or any of the other bs. The facts matter. Fact the dog was from god knows where before the owner got it. Fact he bred it for personal gain Fact he knew it was aggressive and did nothing. FACT it MAULED A innocent kid. Doesnt matter if the people of the area sat out drinking coffee or 40's of beer. It should not have happend period.

If you want others to accept pits as the great dogs they are you need to be honest. We do have a ton of pits out here that are bred to be monsters and this is the reason why you see these attacks.

Telling people "oh yes he can hurt you but so can a lab" isnt helpng the problem.